


Like Space

by nhasablog



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Slash, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 22:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11792757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhasablog/pseuds/nhasablog
Summary: She was looking at him. “Are you like space?” she repeated. “Do parts of you contradict each other?”“Oh. Well, I guess. I mean I suppose they do, just like with everyone else.”“Can you give an example?”(Or, Jyn and Cassian bond over how they are very much like space.)





	Like Space

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who FINALLY watched Rogue One and now has a mighty need to write about all of the characters? I figured I can start with Jyn and Cassian and see what else I come up with later on. I hope you like it!

“Space is so quiet.”

Cassian looked over at Jyn, her voice having almost startled him as it’d sliced through the silence. She wasn’t looking at him, but he knew she could feel his gaze. Her own eyes were stuck on the window, watching the darkness outside, which was so very close to them. They were the only ones in the room, and she was right; space was quiet.

He put down the ammunition he’d been fiddling with and took two long steps and was at her side, settling down beside her. “It is.”

She turned her head ever so slightly to acknowledge him. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“The silence?”

“How calm it can be, yet how destructive.”

He hummed. “I suppose that’s how most things are. They can contradict themselves depending on the situation. Take yourself, for example.”

She looked at him now, her eyes big and curious. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” He couldn’t help the small smile that found his lips. “You’re small. Seemingly calm. But you keep a storm inside that will destroy anyone and anything that dares approach it.”

She shifted beside him, almost uncomfortably. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Space is the same. If you don’t mess with it, it will most likely leave you alone. If you think you’re bigger than it, it will prove you wrong. It’s all about respect.”

“Respect never takes you far if you end up with the wrong crowd.”

“I know.” He turned his gaze from Jyn, to the darkness, and back to Jyn. “But space doesn’t discriminate.”

They fell silent, watching the stars so very far away that surrounded the ship. Cassian had spent so many years around space that he constantly forgot to appreciate it. Despite how enormous and terrifying, it was also beautiful. Powerful. The most powerful thing there was. He was glad Jyn had pointed his attention in its direction again.

“Are you like space?” she suddenly asked, waking him up from the dream-like state he’d found himself in.

“Sorry?”

She was looking at him. “Are you like space?” she repeated. “Do parts of you contradict each other?”

“Oh. Well, I guess. I mean I suppose they do, just like with everyone else.”

“Can you give an example?”

He rubbed at his neck. “Uh, I guess there’s this part of me that keeps fighting and hoping that the rebellion will succeed. Then there’s this part that knows it’s hopeless. I’m sure there are other ways that- that make me like space, as you said.”

She was looking at him so intently, drinking every word he was uttering, and it was both alarming and somewhat flattering. He liked that she cared about what he was saying. They hadn’t exactly had the greatest start in their friendship, or whatever this was. He liked that they could at least respect each other enough to be interested when the other spoke.

He cleared his throat. “Can you give me an example?”

“About you?”

He smiled again. He did a lot of that around her. “About you.”

“I’d rather try to figure you out.”

“Is that so?” He tilted his head. “You can go ahead if I’m allowed to do the same to you.”

“Deal.” She leaned back, examining him in a way that made him too aware of everything about himself. “I think you put up this brave front, but that you’re extremely terrified deep down as well.”

“Aren’t we all, though? I could say the same about you.”

“I’m not done.” She held up her hand in a mock scolding way, and Cassian had to laugh. “You think you have to endure all of it alone, but you also long to open up. There’s just this part of you that thinks no one will listen.”

“Can I have a go?”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“My turn. Okay, so.” He shut one eye in an exaggerated manner of observation, delighted that it made her smile. “I think you put on this tough facade, but that deep down you’re a big softie.”

“ _Me_?”

“Do you see any other softies here?”

She laughed, and oh what a sound it was. “You’re ridiculous. Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself right now?”

“Nope, I’m quite certain I’m talking about you.”

She gave his arm a light slap, but he hadn’t expected her to touch him, so he reacted on impulse and reached for her, his hand becoming confused halfway there and giving her ribs a poke rather than whatever it had been planning on doing before. He decided it was a much better option due to her reaction.

“See? I told you you’re a big softie.”

“What do you mean?” She sounded breathless.

“Don’t deny it. You recoiled from my touch because it tickled.”

Her cheeks turned a light pink color. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t do whatever you’re thinking of doing.”

He flashed her a grin. “Or what?”

“Or I will be forced to retaliate.”

“How do you know that will work on me?” They had stood up at one point, and Jyn was slowly backing away from him, but Cassian just kept following.

“Because,” she replied. “You’re also a big softie, are you not?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m ticklish.”

“I think you’re lying.”

“Hey, who is about to pounce on who here?”

Apparently both, because once Cassian made a move Jyn imitated him, and they ended up meeting in the middle, their hands awkwardly flailing around until Jyn managed to worm hers under Cassian’s arms, but she only had time to smile in victory for a second before Cassian’s fingers found her ribs again, and thus a complicated dance took place.

It didn’t last very long, because Jyn’s fingers on his skin were unbearable, and he was sure she shared his sentiment, and so they only laughed for a brief minute before parting, but the commotion had been enough to rouse the others anyway.

“Well, wasn’t that sweet,” Baze said as he poked his head into the room. Cassian didn’t like his knowing grin; a grin that Bodhi also wore when he appeared. “Is this your way of bonding?”

“Something like that,” Cassian replied, taking more steps away from Jyn than necessary.

“We’ve been trying to figure out what parts about each other contradict others,” Jyn piped up, as if that made sense to anyone else.

“Interesting,” Chirrut said from somewhere behind Baze, and Cassian knew he meant it. “Did you find anything?”

“Oh, loads of things. Do you want to join?”

“Do we have to join the tickle fight as well?” Bodhi asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he winked at Cassian.

Cassian cleared his throat. “No, I believe that was a one time thing.”

“That’s what you think.” Jyn smirked when she said that.

Cassian pointed at her. “Oh, it’s on, Erso.”

“There’s a 57.5 percent chance of you losing that fight, Cassian.”

“Thank you, K-2. I appreciate the faith.”

“It is not in my nature to simply believe in anything without calculations.”

“Noted.”

It took Cassian the rest of the day to remember why exactly this had all started, and just before he called it a night he turned toward the closest window and took in the space around him, and it both calmed and terrified him. He reckoned that was just the way certain things had to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my [tumblr](http://nhasablog.tumblr.com) for tickle fics.
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](http://nhasasideblog.tumblr.com) for non-tickle fics.


End file.
